1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a component for feeder for feeding a large number of chip components aligned in a line.
2. Description of the Related Art
As conventional component feeders, bulk feeders and vibrating bowl feeders are known. The bulk feeder may be roughly classified into the disentanglement by air type and the disentanglement by a thrust-up pin type. In the air type, there is a problem of difficulty in adjusting the amount and the direction of air, while in the thrust-up pin type, there is a problem in that components are prone to be damaged as the pin strikes components at every stroke. Since chip components are simultaneously centered toward a funnel-shaped outlet in either of these types, even if an entanglement is broken once, another entanglement will form, resulting in decreased feeding efficiency. In contrast, in the vibrating bowl feeder, although entanglements are difficult to form, there are problems in the expensiveness of the apparatus, transmission of vibrations to other apparatuses, and the large space required for installation.
In order to solve these problems, the applicant proposed a component feeder having a simple structure and high efficiency in aligning and discharging components (Japanese Patent Application No. 9-180348 which has not been published yet). This component feeder comprises a component storage housing for accommodating chip components disposed between a fixed drum and a rotary drum, an aligning groove disposed on the inner surface of the fixed drum to slide the chip components downward aligned in a predetermined direction, a gate disposed in the bottom end of the aligning groove to pass chip components individually to slid down along the aligning groove in a predetermined orientation therethrough, and a discharge path for discharging the chip component passed through the gate in an aligned state. On the inner surface of the rotary drum, lug members are provided for urging a component in an abnormal orientation stopping at the gate toward the direction opposite to discharge to undo the blockage.
In this component feeder, chip components are dropped into the aligning groove so as to be aligned in a predetermined direction, then are passed through the gate so as to be aligned in a predetermined orientation, and moreover blocking is undone by the lug members of the rotary drum, resulting in high efficiency in aligning and discharging components. However, since chip components are directly supplied to the component storage housing structurally, in consideration of efficiency in aligning and discharging of chip components, it is not preferable to supply a large number of chip components. When a large number of chip components is supplied in an enlarged component storage housing, extended agitation time of chip components produces a risk of damage to components.